Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun has stated that policemen were withdrawn from local government headquarters following the election of democratically elected chairmen. He explained that since the elections had concluded, there was no longer a need for a police presence at the local government secretariats.
It is worth noting that after the chairmen were sworn into office and resumed at the secretariats, suspected thugs attacked and set some local governments ablaze while destroying many government properties.
Speaking during a meeting with Police Strategic Commanders in Abuja on Tuesday, IGP Egbetokun said, “We were not supposed to have any issues in Rivers. The issues were avoidable. We acted very professionally and followed legal and democratic tenets.
“We were preparing for the LG elections in Rivers State when a high court in Abuja stated that the Police should not take part in the election. Another high court in Rivers ruled that the Police should perform their constitutional role. However, a Federal High Court subsequently issued an order barring the Police from participating in the election.
“As IGP, I sent the three different court orders to our Legal department for advice. We have very sound lawyers, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The advice was that we should adhere to the Federal High Court order and refrain from involvement.
“Because all our operations are guided by the rule of law, I informed the governor of our decision to abstain from the election and that policemen would not be involved.
“Before this, we had intelligence indicating that some individuals were planning to attack and burn down the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC). Therefore, we deployed policemen to protect the Rivers SIEC.
“The following day, the governor made various allegations, claiming that the Police were there to tamper with election materials, which was unexpected.
“After the election of the local government chairmen, if we had remained and continued to seal the local governments, we would have been accused of taking sides. That is why we withdrew our men from the secretariat.
“However, following the outbreak of violence and Mr. President’s directive to restore order, we returned and did so. The police only obeyed court orders in their actions.”